Textile ironing apparatus



Oct. 31, 1950 A. BERBERIAN 2,527,873

TEXTILE IRONING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 1'7, 1946 ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 31, 1950 Agop Berberian, Arlington, Mass.

Application August 17, 1946, Serial No. 691,305

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to a machine for pressing o-r ironing textile materials and is more particularly concerned with an accessory which may be used with the conventional steam board or the like for ironing or pressing textile materials such as window curtains, and similar articles.

In .dry cleaning establishments which handle window curtains and similar articles'it is necessary to subject the curtains to an ironing or pressing operation after they have been washed ,or dry cleaned. These establishments customarily use for this purpose a machine known in the trade as a steam board. The steam board comprises a relatively flat table supported in a horizontal position at waist level and provided with means for admitting steam tothe inside of the board and permitting it to escape at its upper side, as through a cloth covering extending over the entire upper surface of the steam board. In removing wrinkles from window curtains and the like, it has been the practice for the operator to place a part of the curtain on the board and allow it to remain there for a sufficient time to permit the textile material to assume a fiat conditionunder the influence of the steam. The curtain must then be moved by hand to place another part of its area on the board for similar treatment. The operation thus involves a step-by-step procedure involving treatment .of

successive relatively small areas of the curtain and isconsequently time consuming.

The present invention provides an apparatus which permits textile articles such as curtains to be expeditiously smoothed, ironed'or pressed, following dry cleaning or washing, by means of asimple continuous operation and at low cost. At the same time the quality of the finish imparted to the article is as good as or better than that which is produced by the conventional procedure.

In accordance with the invention, the accessory comprises a series of parallel rods which are mounted slightly above the upper surface of the steam board so'that they lie generall in a horizontalplane parallel to the board. Some or all of the rods may be provided with apertures in their lower sides to permit steam vapor rising from the board to enter the bore of the rod and thus tend to keep the outer surface of the rod at. a higher temperature. I

c'The invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of thepresently preferred embodiment thereof and from the accompanying drawings of the same, where- Fig. 1 is a perspective view, of the accessory associated with a steam board and illustratin the manner in which a window curtain may be ironed thereon;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 33 of F Referring to the drawings, the steam board comprises a hollow board 2, a suitable column 4 on which the board is supported and a base 6 for supporting the column'on the floor. This may be provided near the middle of the tubes at steam board is of conventional construction and forms .no part of my invention, and, therefore; will not be described in great detail. Generally, these machines are provided on the upper surface of the board 2 with a pad or covering which may be of cloth or similar material which will permit the passage of steam vapor therethrough. Means for circulating steam within the board and releasing it over its upper surface are provided, together with a steam line, indicated at 8, for feeding steam to the board.

The accessory of the present invention comprises a central hollow tube or rod I0 which is provided with a series of small apertures 12 distributed along its length on its lower side. Supported on the center tube H] at each side thereof is a pair of hollow tubes 14 and Hi. The tubes are preferably made of metal, As may be seen more particularly in Fig. 3, the side tubes l4 and it are spaced somewhat from the center tube 1.0 and are disposed with their axes generaily parallel to the axis of the tube l0 andin such a way that all three tubes lie generally in the same plane. The side tubes I4 and I6 are preferably supported from the center tube In primarily at the ends of the side tubes. This supporting means may take any convenient form. In the embodiment shown, it comprises a pair oftubular members l8 and 20 welded or brazed at their'inner ends 22 andi l; respectively, to the outer wall of the center tube It. The tubular members l8 and 2c are bent at right angles at their'outer ends in such a way as to receive and support the ends of the tubes l4 and I6 so that these tubes will lie parallel to and in a common plane with the center tube ID. A similar mount- L e ing 26 is provided atthe opposite ends of the tubes l4 and i6. To'lend further support and ri idity to the system of tubes, a support 28 their under sides and connected to each of the tubes byv soldering or brazing. Preferably the side tubes l4 and I6 are of a slightly smaller di.- ameter than the center tube I0.

Means is provided for supporting in a plane generally parallel to its uppersurface.

For this; purpose the center tube It may extend for. a short-dis ncebeyond the end suppor 18 and 20 for engagement withais litable standardv the tubes l0, l4 and iii in spaced .relation to the board 2 and;

in a horizontal tubular member 32 forming part of a suitable standard 34. The standard additionally comprises a vertical member 35 and a base 36 supporting its lower end. The base 36 may be fastened to the floor by appropriate fastenings 38 or it may be made of a sufficient size and weight to support the accessory without be- Conveniently, a wing ing fastened to the floor. nut 40 may be provided for securing the projecting end 30 of the center tube to in the desired adjusted position in the standard.

When the accessory is to be employed in pressing or ironing textile materials, such as curtains for example, it is placed in its mounted position shown in the drawings by inserting the projection 30 in the standard, securing it in place .if desired by use of the wing nut 40. Steam is then admitted to the steam board which causes steam vapor from the upper surface of the board to rise around and about the tubes III, M and I6 of the accessory as indicated at 42 in Fig. 3. Some of the steam vapor 42 may enter the central tube l through the apertures 12, and may also enter the side tubes I4 and I6 if these are provided with apertures. At first, moisture may tend to condense on the surface of the tubes inasmuch as these are cooler than the steam. In a very short time the tubes become warm under the influence of the steam and eventually this condensation may entirely disappear. It is not necessary to wait until the condensation disappears to process the materials to be ironed on the accessory.

The manner in which the textile materials-are processed Will be illustrated by a description of the processing of a window curtain 44. This curtain is provided with a hem 46 at each of its ends. The operators pass a small diameter rod or bar 48 into each hem so that it extends a short distance beyond the hem at each side. The free ends of the rods 48 are then grasped and the curtain drawn across the upper surface of the tubes in the manner illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3. A single pass of the curtain will ordinarily be sufiicient to remove completely the multitude of folds and wrinkles which are present in a curtain after it has been washed or has been treated in dry cleaning solvent and extracted and dried. Preferably, the curtain 44 is kept under slight tension as it is moved across the rods although no very great tension is necessary.

I believe that the effectiveness of my apparatus can be explained in part by the presence of the atmosphere of steam rising from th steam board and permeating the curtain as it is being processed. The slight amount of moisture that may be present on the tubes as a result of condensation does not interfere with the ironing operation.

The foregoing detailed disclosure of a presently preferred embodiment of my invention is made by way of illustration and not of limitation. Modification of the constructional details may be made by those skilled in the art without departure from my invention as expressed in the appended claims. For example, a greater or lesser number of tubes than that shown may be employed, the relative diameters of the tubes may be varied and the distribution of the apertures l2 over the tube, and among the tubes, may be varied from that shown depending somewhat upon conditions, such as the nature of the material of th articles to be processed. Y

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim is:

1. An apparatus for use in ironing curtains which comprises an elongated hollow cylindrical center tube having a plurality of apertures in the lower side of its wall communicating with its bore, hollow cylindrical side tubes of smaller diameter than said center tube laterally spaced from and lying generally parallel to and in a common plane with said center tube on each side thereof, supports for said center and side tubes connecting the side tubes to the center tube at each end thereof and securing the tubes against rotation, and means for supplying steam to the atmosphere below said tubes adjacentsaid apertures, whereby said center tube is heated internally by steam entering said apertures and a damp hot atmosphere is provided about said tubes. 7

2. An apparatus for use in ironing curtains which comprises an elongated hollow cylindrical center tube of greater length than the cloth to be ironed, having a plurality of apertures in the lower side of its wall communicating with its bore, a hollow cylindrical side tube of smaller diameter than said center tube disposed at each side of the center tube, said side tubes being laterally spaced from and lying generally parallel to and in a common plane with said center tube, supports for said tubes-connecting the side tubes to the center tube at each end thereof and securing the tubes against rotation, a support for said tubes connecting the center and side tubes at a point intermediate their ends, and means for supplying steam to the atmosphere below said tubes adjacent said apertures, whereby said center tube is heated internally by steam entering said apertures and a damp hot atmosphere is provided about said tubes.

3. An apparatus for use in ironing curtains which comprises an elongated hollow cylindrical center tube, of greater length than the cloth to be ironed, having a plurality of apertures in the lower side of its wall freely exposed to the at- 45 mosphere and communicating with its bore, a

pair of hollow cylindrical tubes of smaller diameter than said center tube disposed one at each side of the center tube, said side tubes being laterally spaced from and lying generally paral- 50 lel to and in a common plane with said center tube, supports for saidtubes connecting the side tubes to the center .tube at each end thereof and securing the tubes against rotation with respect to each other, and a support for said tubes connecting the center tube and side tubes at a point intermediate their ends.

AGOP BERBERIAN.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 6,981 Hebdon Mar. 7, 1876 398,847 Rutherford Mar. 5, 1889 761,500 Kidd May 31, 1904 837,281. Bray Dec. 4, 1906 1,019,615 Dunn Mar. 5, 1912 1,115,982 Stapp Nov. 3, 1914i 2,398,063 Weidenfeld Apr. 9, 1946 2,402,237 Carder June 18,1946 

